Peter
by Insert Witty Name Here
Summary: Three brothers come together to bring down the company for good. Who will join them? Who will betray them? R&R!
1. St Peter & The Angel of Death

Why do I get these ideas when I should be studying for tests? Oh well. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I don't intend this to be a series, but I have another exam next week so you never know.

Disclaimer:

**"About the most originality any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgement"** -Josh Billings

BEFORE YOU READ -- Don't ask where Peter got this power, assume that he's taken from someone, remember that he has the same hunger Sylar had. I didn't want to go into detail about it as it is not pertinent to this story.

* * *

It all started with Peter.

He was messing with all the strings, trying to find the one to cut out. It wasn't quite as simple as that. If you took one out, others would follow in a cascade effect. Peter needed to stop meddling. Because his string was pulling very tight against everyone else's.

Sylar dragged his fingers across the wall as he wondered down the hall. Noah Bennet was trying to kill him. No surprise there. So was Peter Petrelli, with his own damn ability. That one threw a wrench in his plans. Can't go cold turkey with such an unyielding show of raw power staring you down.

He stopped walking at that moment, letting his arm drop to his side. Peter was standing at the end of the hall...staring him down. He decided to go with his best offense: the truth.

"You can't keep changing the future Peter." His voice echoed through the hall. He slowly walked closer until he was almost nose to nose with Peter.

"I think I can change your mind." Peter grabbed Sylar by the shoulders and in the blink of an eye they were standing on a patch of scarred earth that went as far as the eye could see. Sylar turned his attention back to the man in front of him.

"Where are we?" He could smell the salt in the air, somewhere near the coast.

"Costa Verde. Four years in the future." Well that certainly got his attention.

"What happened?"

"I'm glad you asked," Peter's voice was hard and angry. "Let me show you." He put his right hand on Sylar's head. Thumb on his temple, his other fingers curving down under his ears, just like Nathan used to do when he didn't have an answer.

Wait. What?

Something was off, but before he had time to ponder further he felt his feet grounded. _Memories_, he realized. He saw his arm raise to ring a door bell. He couldn't control it though and when the door opened he gave a jolt of surprise, or he felt it.

Peter. Peter was showing him his own memories. But why would he want to change this? He had family, control over his powers, and a nice house. The Bennet house to be exact. That was a kicker, he couldn't wait to see how that happened.

Things went downhill after that. He wanted to scream at his future self not to give Peter his ability. What good could come of that? The conversation went on. There was nothing he could change. Then everything got worse. He tried to clue into everything. Claire was trying to kill Peter and when she pointed the gun at his soon to be son, he felt his blood boil. Everything happened so fast and quickly stopped with his future self holding his dead son.

He saw Peter knock out the blonde woman and when he turned back, he saw himself ablaze with fury. He could feel the heat and the light in his eyes. He quickly remembered that it wasn't his own arms burning from the radiation, it was Peter's. Just like it was Peter's voice that screamed out to him in that last second, "GABRIEL!"

The force of the memory coursed through him as he and Peter collapsed onto the scorched earth. Peter was shaking from head to toe and he realized quickly that he was too. How could this...why did this happen? They had to stop it. The future wasn't set in stone, he knew that. They could change it for the better. Couldn't they?

He heard Peter retching and then take a few deep breaths. When he spoke his voice seemed distant, like he was trying to separate himself from his words.

"Do you see now?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Do you see why I would want to change the future? To save your son, you, and Claire and..." He stopped, choking on his words. Sylar waited.

"I killed him.." Peter broke down, his sobs echoing off the vast nothingness around them. Sylar finally spoke up.

"Who?"

He thought Peter wasn't going to answer, but he finally took a deep breath between sobs.

"Nathan." Peter choked out. "I killed him, in the future without even hesitating. I killed him, Gabriel. My own brother."

Before Peter collapsed again, Sylar grabbed him and pulled Peter against him while he tried to contain his own emotions. First Claire had softened him up and now this. Oh, yes. He was most definitely telling the truth about that. The girl...-his niece, had tried to kill herself exactly one thousand and sixty-four times and he felt the pain of every one of those attempts when he took her ability. And not just the physical pain.

Peter got handle of himself and finally looked up.

"I have to fix this." He stood up, brushing the soot off himself.

"I'll help you."

Peter gave him his hand and pulled him up and in the blink of an eye they were in Nathan's office. They had all the time in the world to fix this, but they weren't going to waste a second of it.

Nathan was looking out his office window and turned when he heard their footsteps. He froze when he saw who Peter was with.

"Peter, what's going on?"

Gabriel stayed where he was while Peter walked up to his eldest brother and placed his right hand on Nathan's head.

"I have something to show you."

Gabriel watched as Peter showed his brother the same memory as well as Nathan's own death. Nathan took a moment to collect himself. When he looked back up, there was a resolve in his features and Gabriel and Peter knew that he would help them.

It all started with Peter.

But Gabriel would damn well make sure that it didn't end with him.

* * *

AN: Please let me know what you think, good or bad!


	2. Revelations 14:6 10

A/N: Hadn't really planned on continuing this, but I just couldn't get this story out of my head. As you read, **don't skim over what the priest is saying**. There is some subtext there that I'm hoping you will pick up on. ENJOY!

And don't forget to let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

* * *

Gabriel wondered around in Nathan Petrelli's living room while Peter and Nathan hashed things out in the next room. Nevermind that he could hear every word they were saying.

"Why was Claire trying to kill you?" Nathan whispered feverishly.

"I don't know, but it was clear she was working for you." Peter's voice sounded tired and distant.

Nathan sighed.

"We need to find her. Did something happen with her and Bennet?"

Gabriel popped his head in the kitchen at that moment.

"She doesn't trust him anymore."

Nathan quirked an eyebrow, "And you know this how?" Nathan thought he was taking it all in stride, but he was still struggling with the fact that this monster was his brother. Peter had convinced him to cut _Gabriel _some slack. However, he couldn't help but hold a grudge against _Sylar_.

Gabriel sighed.

"Claire was convinced that she could help one of the Level 5 fugitives. Noah put a gun to his head and told him to kill me, but the guy just killed himself...or whatever his power did. Claire made it out like she forgave him, but..."

They were silent for a moment until Peter finally spoke up.

"So we bring her here, but then what? Everything's going to hell in a handbasket and we're supposed to stop it how?"

Gabriel knew what had to be done.

"The company."

Nathan shook his head.

"We can't take down the company, they have too many people on their side, too many resources." Nathan looked to Peter. His brow was creased in thought, undecided where he stood on the issue. Gabriel tried to sway him to his side.

"If we take out their key resources and prevent anyone else from helping them..."

Peter looked up with a fire in his eyes.

"It would mean taking out Mom," Peter hopped up to sit on the kitchen counter, not looking at the other two while he spoke his thoughts out loud.

"But we could stop them from creating any more destruction. Everything that's happened always leads back to the company or someone who used to work for them. I just don't want to hurt her."

Nathan couldn't stand keeping it to himself anymore, he had made it this far without Peter hearing him think about it.

"We weren't born with our abilities." He paused for a moment, making sure he had their full attention.

"Mom let the company experiment on us, perfect their formula. The fact that we even survived was a perk."

Suddenly there was a loud snap and a bolt of electricity shot out, a part of it catching Gabriel on the back of his hand.

"Gahh!" He shook his hand and held the already healing appendage to his chest while shooting Peter a glare.

"Sorry." Peter grumbled. He was trying to keep his blood from boiling. How could she do this to them? Her children? This was where he drew the line. His brothers could see the battle of emotions in his features but he spoke without any hint of doubt or second thoughts.

"Ok, let's just work on finding Claire first, we'll work out the rest later. Any idea's on how to find her?" Nathan asked.

Gabriel was still glaring at Peter, but the latter spoke up. "Got any paint?"

* * *

Claire knew that her father thought she had gone up to her room and stayed there like a good little girl should. He grossly underestimated her ability to hold a grudge time and time again. There were only so many places that she could hide so she went to the one place he would never look: church.

She sat in one of the back rows during midnight mass. The massive painted ceiling made the cathedral look much bigger than it seemed to look like on the outside. She was surprised at how many people came. She knew it would go on for quite a while and let her mind wonder while the priest spoke to the churchgoers.

"In the book of Revelations there are three angels who come upon the people, _'And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.'_"

Claire wondered if anyone who came here got anything out of it. Could she ever feel joy if she couldn't feel pain? She felt numb. And tired. And sick. She didn't want to see the things her father did or could do. This wasn't the same man who raised her. She felt so stupid for trusting him earlier, thinking he would abide by her wishes just this once. And now a man was dead because of her carelessness.

"_'And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.'_"

Everyone else had a bible in their lap, but she didn't bother. No one even noticed or saw her anyways. She cringed at thinking how normal that was for her. Her parents still saw her as a little girl. If only they'd seen that first tape she and Zach made. She had lost count of how many times she had died. Waking up in the morgue was a nuisance more than anything else. Would they still think of her as their little girl if they knew this? Probably. She wiped a tear away, not really caring if anyone saw or her not.

"_'And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.'_"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Peter pop in silently next to her and she gave a squeak. Everyone had their heads bowed while reciting a prayer, not hearing her surprise.

"Peter!" She whispered. "How did you find me?"

"I'll tell you but first I have to get you away from here." He held out his hand and it took Claire only a moment to decide to take it. Forget them. She would live the life she wanted to live, with their approval or not. She was NOT a fragile little doll to keep locked up. She was not their little lamb anymore.

* * *

More to come! I plan on incorporating plot twists from future episodes into this fic and putting my twist on them. PLEASE REVIEW! I really want to know your thoughts, even if you think it's a horrible idea!


	3. Daddy's Little Girl

Not sure how future plot twists in the show will take place in this fic since I have a pretty good idea of where this will go, but I hope you enjoy this. Whether you do or don't, leave me a review and let me know what you think. Should I continue? Do you think you know where it's going?

Disclaimer: No green made here. Any likeliness to actual people, places, and events are completely fictional and are in no way meant to be seen as accurate, slanderous, or profitable. So please don't sue :)

**"About the most originality any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgement"** -Josh Billings

* * *

As soon as Peter and Claire appeared in Nathan's living room a hand went over each of their mouths. Someone was pounding on the front door. Nathan removed his hand and put a finger over his lips.

Gabriel was standing at the corner of the hallway, ready to fight anyone who came through the door. The four of them stood for what seemed like hours. Claire was figuring out the situation. Sylar was helping Nathan and Peter with whatever they were up to, that much was obvious. Claire wondered if it had anything to do with the villain trying to repent for his past. By the looks of the house, they had been there a few days. Empty pizza boxes and take out containers were scattered around the living room and it had the air of a frat house. She had always been neat and tidy growing up, almost bordering on OCD, and she could already feel her fingers twitching to clear out the mess. Finally they heard an engine rev up outside and drive off.

"Whoever it was, they plan on coming back. That's all I could pick up." Peter released Claire's hand, he had been ready to blink her out of there if things went bad. So ready, in fact, the he could hardly concentrate on the person's thoughts, which had been guarded to begin with.

"No one goes in or out of this house, at least not through any door." Nathan announced.

Peter let out sound of protest and threw his arms in the air.

"So everyone's flying Air Peter now?" His brows were creased but Claire could see the smile in his eyes. Nathan just ignored him walking over to the window to see if the coast was really clear.

"We could get frequent Peter miles." Gabriel deadpanned to no one in particular.

Claire fought the surge of giggles and she suddenly felt a weight shift off of her shoulders and she could feel tears pouring down her cheeks. She probably looked crazy to everyone else Nathan walked over and pulled her close. Gabriel and Peter darted into the kitchen, giving them some privacy.

He embraced her tightly, not wanting to ever let go. This is what he had been missing. He missed being a dad so much it hurt sometimes. No one would tell him where Heidi went, not even his own mother. But he didn't let it bother him right now.

He and Claire never really had the chance for a proper reunion. His mother had meddled too much, already having plans of her own. It was then that he decided he didn't really care if they hurt her or not. He wouldn't let her mess up anything else, especially not Claire. She felt Nathan kiss the top of her head and the vibration in his chest when he spoke.

"You OK?"

She pulled back to look him in the face, a smile still on hers.

"Never better." Her brow creased for a moment though and she asked, "How did you guys find me?"

Nathan nodded behind her and sitting on the floor was a portrait of Claire, sitting in a pew wiping a tear. She didn't look away from when Nathan spoke.

"Took us a while to find the church. And the time you would be there."

She was silent for a while. She thought about how sad she had been just a couple hours before and now she felt like nothing bad could ever happen to her. Not here. Not now. She hadn't felt this way since before she discovered her ability. It felt like taking a breath after being under water. Even with _him _being there.

"You can sleep in my bed. We'll be up a while making arrangements." Nathan started to make his way to the kitchen.

"What arrangements?" Claire asked. He paused at the doorway.

"We can't stay here. Someone already knows were up to something. We'll leave before sun-up." He didn't wait for her to respond. She could hear them talking in the kitchen, but decided she'd had enough for one day. As much as she wanted to be clued in to everything, there just wasn't enough energy left in her to give a damn and she fell fast asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

Claire was sure that she had only been asleep for mere minutes when Peter came in and woke her up. It took her a moment to remember whose room she was in. When she walked into the living she was expecting flurried activity of getting ready, but there was just a couple bags. Peter handed her a black backpack and he had one that was identical.

"I've already taken Nathan and Gabriel." Peter explained.

"Where are we going?" He didn't answer, but grabbed her hand and blinked them to their destination. When she opened her eyes, she let out an audible gasp.

The brightness was almost blinding, but her eyes soon adjusted. They were standing on the edge of a beach with the whitest sand she had ever seen. A good ways down she could see waves crashing against the rocks. It was quiet except for the birds and the water. They must have been the only people around for a few miles.

"Please tell me we're not camping." Claire glared at Peter. He laughed and shook his head.

"No, but we're definitely out of the way. I brought you here so you'll know where to go if anything happens."

Claire didn't want to think about that, didn't want to ruin such a pretty beach with escape plans. That didn't stop her from memorizing every step and path they took along the way to the house. She wanted to be able to depend on herself if she had to. Soon, they were far away enough that you had to listen extremely carefully to hear the waves.

"Peter, can I ask you a question?" She asked, as I they navigated through the trees.

"Shoot." He said.

"Why is Sylar helping us?" Peter stopped. He looked at Claire, trying to find the right words, but realized there was no way to explain it to her in the normal way.

"There's something I need to show you. Some things I saw in the future. I was hoping I would never have to. We'll have to wait until we get to the house, okay?"

She nodded. They both continued walking, only this time Peter had some questions.

"What happened with you and your Dad?" Claire sighed.

"He's not who I thought he was." Peter nodded, and realized that's all she was going to say.

"Gabriel told us what happened. You tried to save that man." He prodded.

Claire didn't respond and they stayed quiet until Peter told her they were almost there.

When they finally got there, Claire knew that she would never want to leave it. There was a wrap around porch, with a porch swing to the left. There was a small grassy/sandy area around the house and the dense cover of trees beyond the yard. When they walked in, she fell even more in love with it. All the furniture was big and comfy and everything was open. Grocery bags were sitting on the counter and Gabriel was putting it all away. He looked up as they walked in.

"Claire, I put your stuff in your room. You'll probably want to rearrange it though." He gave a small smile and went back to putting up the groceries.

"My stuff?" She turned to Peter.

"Not all of it, just some things from home we knew you would want." He lead her up the stairs and to the first door on the right. She pushed open the door and was amazed again. It was sort of a replica of her room and at the same time, not. All her favorite things were there along with her clothes. Even her own bed was there!

"Peter...I-I don't know what to say"

"Well, 'Thank you' is a good place to start." He quipped. He laughed when she turned around and threw her arms around his neck.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou."

She released him and sat on the edge of her bed, taking it all in. Peter sat down next to her. She noticed he looked solemn, but didn't say anything.

"Claire." He started, "Whatever you see in the future is not set in stone. That's why you're here. To help us change it." She nodded, not quite certain how to take his warning. He reached up, putting his right hand on the side of her head.

"I went to the future, and I'm going to show you what I saw. You won't really be there, you'll just see what I saw. Understand?"

Claire nodded, not quite knowing what to expect. She felt disoriented for a moment and then she saw...Peter. Only a different Peter. This version had a long scar across his face and looked war torn. She heard herself speak in Peter's voice and she understood that she was looking at Future Peter. She wanted to scream when she saw her future self shoot Peter. Why? Why would she want to do that? She didn't have much time to ponder. It felt like it was all on fast forward. She saw Sylar-turned-Gabriel with a son, and the painting. She saw Gabriel give Peter the key to his ability. And her future self point a gun at the little boy. It reminded her of her Dad. She knew that image would be stuck in her mind forever. Or it might have, had everything else not been twice as horrible.

Everything went up in a blaze and the last thing she saw was Gabriel screaming and holding his now dead son.

Then she was back in her room, as if nothing had happened. She could hear the birds chirping outside and Gabriel whistling something familiar downstairs. Peter was quiet while she processed what she saw and she was grateful for it.

Something inside of her snapped when she saw herself use the Gabriel's son as leverage. She _would not_ allow herself to become that person. She remembered her question during their walk to the house.

"That's why Gabriel is helping, you showed him." Peter nodded.

"Yes and no. He already to decided to change paths, this just..." He sighed, already at a loss for words.

"Made the path a little wider." Gabriel was standing in the doorway.

Claire looked up and she saw what she had been trying to ignore: the pain in his eyes. She had been trying to ignore him in the short time she had been with them, but now she could see it. Gabriel took a deep breath and she could see him put it aside to deal with another day.

"Nathan's cooking burger's out back. I thought we'd eat outside tonight."

He and Peter both went downstairs while she cleaned up and changed. For the first time in a while she was truly scared. Scared of the future, of her father and ending up like him; ruthless and cold. Then again she also felt safe. She knew that they couldn't stay here forever, but that didn't stop her from wishing for it. One day she would have to come face to face with her fears.

She had just come down the stairs when she heard shouting from the back yard. It sounded like there was an argument and just as she reached the patio door there was a gun shot. She jumped in surprise, running out to find something that turned her blood cold.

"Dad?" He stood with a gun in his hand and Peter lay bleeding on the ground. Just by the look on his face, she knew he didn't know she would be there. He started to move towards her, but she quickly skirted around to stand beside Nathan and Gabriel.

Peter gasped loudly and Claire could see the hole in his chest seal up. She wished that didn't look so familiar to her. She wished even more that she could still feel it. She reached down and with the help of Nathan pulled him to his feet. He immediately filled his hands with blue flame. Her heart was pounding and when Nathan grabbed her hand, she could feel his too. She knew that he would take her up and away if things got too dicey. They were the only ones with no offensive powers.

"Claire, stop this and come back home." He was starting to sound like a broken record.

"You cannot keep me locked up forever and pretend everything is normal. Not until we stop all the real monsters."

Noah's brow creased at that.

"Yes, I can." He threw something out at the them that ended up being a flash bomb of some kind. Everything was hazy and surreal and when she finally came to she felt rested and extremely alert. She shot up and found herself sitting in a bed with gray scrubs on. There was a large window in place of a wall and the words painted outside the cell made her skin crawl:

LEVEL 5

* * *

Dun dun duuuunnnnn.

**REVIEW!!**


	4. I'm Yours

A/N: PLEASE let me know what you think about the fic! I need input, it keeps me going.

Disclaimer: How is it "infringement" if I make money from this fanfic, but it's okay for a website to make ad revenue from the fanfic? Someone explain that to me....

* * *

Peter had been locked in Level 5 for three days with no sign of Claire or his brothers. They had drugged him the first day. He fought hard against his captives when he came to. He was pretty sure he had seriously injured a few guards before they managed to subdue him. Peter had tried to reach out with his mind, but it was no use against whatever wards the company had placed on all the cells.

He thought Noah would have been one of the people on their side, but the man was strictly out for revenge. Even if that meant hurting Claire in the process. Peter felt a pang of worry in his heart every time he thought of Claire. Her own father, well, adoptive father, had attacked her and locked her up. He remembered seeing them carry her into her cell, although which one he couldn't recall. Everything between the island and the company was fuzzy at best, except for Claire. He also worried about Nathan and Gabriel. He hoped Nathan had gotten out of the gas quick enough so that he could fly away to safety. And he worried what Bennet had planned for Gabriel. If only he could show him the memories that had convinced everyone else. Then again, he had a feeling that probably wouldn't work. Noah Bennet was not a man to be swayed easily, a reason the company had most likely hired him to do their dirty work.

Every half-hour or so a guard walked by looking bored, barely giving Peter a glance. He knew something was up when he saw the same guard run by in a big hurry. An entire hour went by and nothing happened. No one else went by and the cells were sound proof. Just when he had slipped back into boredom he heard his cell door give an ominous groan. Peter stood quickly and braced himself at the opposite end of the cell. The door gave another groan of protest and the deafening sound of metal crashing against metal filled the small space.

When Peter opened his eyes and let his arms drop to his sides, he saw Gabriel standing where the door should have been. His hair was tousled and his shirt was soaked through with blood. He was gasping with the strain it had taken to break the door and its wards. Peter ran over and caught Gabriel just before his legs gave out.

"C'mon," Peter said, pulling Gabriel's arm around his neck. "We have to find Claire and Nathan." Gabriel only nodded and it was then that Peter noticed that a lot of his wounds had not yet healed. What the hell had happened?

As they made their way down the halls, Peter saw bodies laying on the ground out of the corner of his eyes. He didn't look. He didn't care. His brother did what was necessary to get them out of there, that was all he needed to know. They made their way through three cell blocks but there was no sight of Claire or Nathan. Various occupants of the cells yelled at them to set them free, but Peter knew better. Sometimes the Company did have a good reason to lock some people up. They turned the corner to go to the next hall of cells and would have continued their trek had it not been for the double-barrel shotgun pointed at their heads. Quickly coming to his senses, Peter shut his eyes and froze time in place.

Noah Bennet stood frozen, still pointing the gun, and a glare that could kill as well. They maneuvered around him and Gabriel took some weight off Peter. His healing ability was just now catching up with all the damage done to his body, something that worried Peter deeply. He pushed aside his worry and focused on finding Claire and his brother.

They found Claire in the last cell in the hall. She sat huddled in the corner.

"I have to unfreeze everything to get the door open." Peter said. Gabriel ducked back into the hallway.

"I got you covered."

Peter let go of the hold he had and heard the shotgun go off at the end of the hall. He gave the key pad a large jolt of electricity, enough to cause a power surge in the circuit. The door popped open and Claire collided into him, holding on for dear life. He pulled her with him until he could reach Gabriel. He froze time once again and not a bit too soon. He could see that Gabriel had been in the process of knocking the gun out of Bennet's hands with his mind, but only a millisecond too late. Half way between the two men was a bullet stuck in midair.

Gabriel swallowed audibly.

Once again they darted around the man with the horn-rimmed glasses.

"We still need to find Nathan before we take off." Peter guided them around the corner to next hallway but only found a dead end.

Crap, Peter thought.

"Peter!" The shout came from the end of the long hallway that all the cell blocks branched off of. Nathan was running up to them with none other Hiro beside him.

"Hiro?!" Peter couldn't believe it. How did he know where to find them? As if hearing his thoughts, Hiro held up an issue of 9th Wonder. Peter had never been so happy to see a comic book before that moment.

"We need to go someplace safe. Any ideas?" Peter looked around. Hiro pushed up his glasses and cleared his throat.

* * *

Somehow, in a span of two hours, Hiro had managed to allocate a safe house and stock it with everything they could possibly need. Peter had asked him a million questions upon arrival there and learned that the house was under a fake name. It was located in Heaton, Newcastle and was a healthy distance from the major cities in the UK. From what Peter could tell it was a lot of college students and middle class families. If anyone asked, they could just say they were roommates. Apparently Hiro had inherited the family fortune when his father passed along with a company that was very keen on protecting it's president.

"Not bad, Hiro." Peter said. Hiro grinned and bowed his head. Gabriel was sprawled across the large sectional couch. His wounds were still healing and Claire was helping him clean and tend to the ones on his back. She had been quiet ever since they got to the new safehouse, looking deep in thought. She sat up straight suddenly.

"Gabriel, did they give you any drugs, or a shot or something?" She asked quickly. Gabriel's brows furrowed together.

"I think one, but I'm pretty sure it was a sedative. Didn't last long whatever it was. Why?" He turned over and sat up.

"I think they might have given you something to stop the healing ability. No amount of wounds can stop it, save for that one spot."

Gabriel rubbed his eyes, trying his best to remember. "Everything after that flash bomb is a blur."

"Is that even possible?" Peter asked.

"Wouldn't put it past them." Nathan piped up. He sat down next to Claire pulling her close, hoping that they hadn't given her the same thing.

* * *

After everyone had managed to eat some dinner, albeit on queasy and nervous stomachs, everyone settled in. Eventually everyone went to bed except for Claire, who sat in the kitchen. She couldn't sleep after the events of the last few days. It had been almost a week since she had been home. She was sure her mother was flipping out and she wonderd if her father would tell her what really happened. She never wanted to see him again, and as much as it pained her she would give up contact with the rest of her family to make that happen. Even when her mother knew Noah was lying, she would play along. Claire could always see it in her eyes. If it hadn't been for Gabriel, she would still be stuck back in Level 5. As if on cue, Gabriel wondered into the kitchen. He gave claire a half wave and went straight to the pill bottle on the counter.

"Still feel bad?" She asked. He shrugged and swallowed just a single pill.

"What about Claire? How is she doing?" He grabbed two chocolate chip muffins off the counter and tossed her one. She shrugged as well, picking off the chocolate chips from the top. Gabriel figured she didn't want to talk but she quietly spoke up.

"I should be breaking down in tears right now, but I'm tired of doing that. Pretty much tired of everything right now." Gabriel could certainly tell. She had deep, dark, purple circles under her eyes and her shoulders were hunched as if the weight of the world rested upon them. He felt a stab of guilt when he realized he was responsible for a good bit of that weight. He wished he could say he was sorry a hundred times, but he knew that it would only force Claire to relive it all and she was certainly in no condition for that at the moment. The poor girl just needed a vacation from life itself. _Well_, he told himself, _I can pretend to be normal for few hours_.

"Did you know that at 12:00 am" he said, walking around the table and pulling her up from her chair, "there are hours of really bad reality tv shows just begging to be watched and made fun of?"

Claire smirked, knowing what he was up to but playing along anyways.

"You pick the show, I'll pick the snacks?" Claire asked. He snuck his hand out, giving her a handshake. "Deal."

Claire skipped to the other side of the kitchen towards the pantry, looking more like the girl she was supposed to be. When Gabriel walked in to the living room he saw Nathan standing at the hallway entrance.

_T__hank you_, he mouthed. Gabriel gave him a curt nod. Nathan disappeared down the hallway just as Claire came bouncing into the room holding an arm full of junk food and soda. He grabbed the remote and put it on the first thing he could find. It was a couple hours into their forray of mediocre TV shows when Claire rested her on his shoulder.

"You know, you're a shoe in for my second favorite uncle." Gabriel let out an audible snort that made Claire giggle.

"You're not half bad yourself, kiddo." He wanted to say more and knew Claire could sense it. She always knew when something was up, which was probably why she had been the key to saving the world at one point. He finally got enough nerve to say what he wanted to earlier in the kitchen.

"Claire...I can't change the past. If I could, I would go back in a heartbeat and undo-" He couldn't finish that line of thought out loud. Claire waited patiently, letting him get everything off his chest.

"I can't change what I did, but I'll do everything I can to make up for it. That means protecting you, and not in the physical sense. You shouldn't have to deal with any of this crap. Even I was almost normal at your age." Claire quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I said 'almost'" Claire bit her lip, not letting another fit of soda fueled giggles escape.

"If you ever want to talk, or just sit and not talk and just pretend to be normal, even just for a few minutes...I'm yours." Claire felt her urge to giggle leave immediately. Replaced only by a quivering chin as she held back tears that she promised she was done with. Almost everyone had told her just to go home and be normal, stay out of trouble, forget anything ever happened. But no one had ever bothered to help her do that. All this time and it takes a former homicidal serial killer that had at one point sliced her head off to open their heart and take a little bit of the burden off herself. She reached over with both arms and wrapped them around them as tightly as she could around his neck. She didn't let those tears fall, she was going to have her happy moment even if it killed her (some would argue that it very well could). When she pulled back she saw that Gabriel had not been able to do the same and there were tear tracks down his face.

"Awww, you big softie." Claire said teasingly.

Gabriel's eyebrows drew together.

"What? No. It's just Heidi and Spencer, " he said, pointing to the television and pretending to be even more choked up, "they just love each other so much." He then pretended to break down into even more tears.

Claire couldn't the fit of giggles this time, and unbeknownst to her Nathan sat upstairs in his bedroom still awake with a small smile on his face. Happy just knowing that his girl was happy.


End file.
